


love songs and legends

by A_Confused_Kitten



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Episode: s03e05 Good Form, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, POV Alternating, POV Emma Swan, POV Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24053200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Confused_Kitten/pseuds/A_Confused_Kitten
Summary: There was a story Snow knew, from when her mother told her stories each night and kissed her forehead before sending her to bed. It was a story of long ago, before their family had taken the throne, of a merciless ancestor who claimed the throne and the brothers that led to his banishment.One of the Jewel of the Realm, the royal navy’s leading ship, and a sail made of Pegasus feather’s that gave the Jewel the gift of flight.It went like this: a king had sent the Jones brothers, a captain and a lieutenant in the navy, to collect a plant called dreamshade. It was medicine, or so they'd been told. However, when the younger brother brushed against the thorny plant, poison began to race through his veins, and within hours, the younger Jones brother was dead.
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones & Prince Charming | David Nolan, Captain Hook | Killian Jones & Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan, Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 52





	love songs and legends

There was a story Snow knew, from when her mother told her stories each night and kissed her forehead before sending her to bed. It was a story of long ago, before their family had taken the throne, of a merciless ancestor who claimed the throne and the brothers that led to his banishment.

One of the _Jewel of the Realm,_ the royal navy’s leading ship, and a sail made of Pegasus feather’s that gave the _Jewel_ the gift of flight.

It went like this: a king had sent the Jones brothers, a captain and a lieutenant in the navy, to collect a plant called _dreamshade_. It was medicine, or so they'd been told. However, when the younger brother brushed against the thorny plant, poison began to race through his veins, and within hours, the younger Jones brother was dead.

No one knew how the king's true nature was revealed, each variation of the myth telling a different story. However, each and every version hailed the brothers as heros.

Every summer solstice since the discovery of the king’s cruel ways and deceiving tricks, the kingdom had held a festival, in honour of the crew that’d been lost in the king’s final act of cruelty. No one had ever heard from the crew, rumoured to have been trapped in a place where no one ages.

A place exactly like Neverland.

Now, Snow wasn’t a suspicious person, not by a long shot. But despite what people thought of her, there had been few people in her life that she immediately _knew_ she could trust. Charming, for one, even through their bumpy meeting, and even before the curse was broken, something in her had known that Emma was trustworthy.

But the fact that they were sailing to Neverland on a ship that was _clearly_ not made since her family took the throne, accompanied by a century old pirate simply wasn’t adding up. 

Snow already knew that there was something _off_ about the pirate, and she knew that Emma saw it, too. She didn’t find enjoyment from sticking her nose in places it didn’t belong, but this was the exception. If there was one thing Snow White was known for, it was her devotion to family, and she certainly didn’t plan on searching a deadly island with someone she couldn’t trust.

  
  


“Have you heard the story of the Lost Crew?” She asked her husband, tugging him off to the side. Who knew when they’d have a moment alone on the island, so Snow settled for having a corner of the ship to themselves.

David nodded. “My mother told me the story when I was growing up.”

She grinned, a wild look she’d learned in her bandit days. “Good. That makes things _so_ much easier.” So she told him. Told him of the ship's past as a navy vessel, a fact that was clear as day to her, and of the enchantments she'd overheard Regina mention, that no modern ship would ever have. 

At first, David looked confused, but the longer Snow talked, the more understanding his gaze became. 

"You really think that?"

"I do."

“But that would mean-”

“I know.”

David smiled, and for a moment, she was back in the Enchanted Forest, watching her Prince Charming, far away from Neverland’s cold waters. Silent words passed between them, a language of knowing smiles and wide eyes.

Her prince smiled again, softly. “Then it seems we have a legend to find.”

  
  


Of course, it wasn’t going to be as easy as simply saying it. Snow may be hopeful, maybe to the extreme sometimes, but even she wasn’t that optimistic.

There was the obvious problem of not knowing what to look for, given that the story was more than likely altered by the time her or Charming had heard it, as the legend _was_ over a century old. Aside from that, it wasn’t like there was someone they could ask about it. 

Afterall, it was unlikely that the Lost Ones roaming the island had heard the story, and even less likely that they would tell them, even if they had.

  
  


They only spent three days in Neverland before the group, originally consisting of Gold, Hook, Regina, Emma, David, and herself, had lost two members, and while that did low the tension among the group, Snow couldn’t help but worry about Regina and Gold. 

There was an odd dynamic in the group, however, with the odd relationship between Emma and Hook, that almost reminded Snow of her first meeting with David, and the pirate’s reluctance to be around anyone of royal status.

Snow knew David had noticed it, too; the way Hook referred to them with old fashioned titles and manors, yet always remained distant with them in a way he hadn’t even been with Gold or Regina.

“Maybe the kingdom he came from was on the traditional side?”

But even as she said it, Snow knew it wasn’t true. Hook acted like he’d been burnt once, and wasn’t taking the risk of being burned again.

  
  


It clicked two days after Hook saved her husband’s life. No, it clicks two days after Killian _Jones_ saved her husband’s life. Two days after her husband had pushed her aside and taken an arrow coated in dreamshade that had been meant for her.

“How have I been so _blind_?”

David flashed a smile, one that said _I love you_ and _I trust you_ and _I’m with you._ “Because it’s not a simple puzzle you’re trying to solve, Snow.” He told her, as warm and supportive as he’d always been. “Because you’re trying to solve a centuries old disappearance?”

Snow forced herself to take a breath, because David was right. She had known it wasn’t going to be easy, but this? It just seemed too obvious. 

Killian Jones, a sailor with a long lost brother who had in depth knowledge of Neverland, the exact place Snow believed the legend spoke of. Even more so, knowledge about the poison said to have killed the Jones brother.

“You’re right,” she told David, smiling. “We just need to see if we’re right.”

  
  


“So, let me get this straight,” Emma said, eyeing her parents. “You think Hook is part of some Enchanted Forest legend? How is that even possible?”

The couple exchanged a glance, and Emma resisted the urge to sigh. Henry was her priority here, not whatever legend from the Enchanted Forest her parents were going on about. This _really_ wasn’t how she had expected to end another long day searching the island.

Most nights before this had ended with a campfire, and if they were lucky, new information on where Pan might be keeping her son. Tonight, however, her parents had pulled her aside, waiting until Hook had gone to do _something_ out of sight.

“There’s a story from before my grandmother took the throne.” Mary Margret started, her voice quiet, as though she was weary of someone overhearing. “The king before her sent two brothers off to find potent medicine. However, when the brothers arrived, they found the plant to be deadly poison, and within hours, the younger brother was dead.”

  
  


Emma was unsurprised to find Hook a few feet away from the camp, sitting back against the stump of a tree, utterly silent. For a person with such a, well, _loud_ personality, the pirate excelled at going around places unnoticed. She refrained from frowning, however, because she recognized that position. Knew the tension seeping from his form and the look in his eyes, because slowly, Killian Jones was becoming an open book.

“Hook-”

“Let me guess, you want to know the story behind the legend?” He said, not looking up. 

“ _Hook-_ ”

“Well, it’s nowhere near as _pleasant_ as your family tells it-”

“ _Killian Jones._ ”

 _That certainly caught his attention,_ she thought, watching the question flicker behind his eyes. For a moment, Emma wondered how often people used his given name, instead of the moniker he was known by, but she didn’t waste time pondering things she already knew the answer to.

“It’s been a long time since anyone remembered that name,” Hook drawled, meeting her gaze with an unimpressed look, and part of her wanted to know just how many centuries it took for your name to become foreign. “What can I do for you, love?”

Emma didn’t have an honest answer. It had been instinct to find him, to make sure he was okay, just as much as it was instinct to give Henry everything she’d never been given. But honestly? She didn’t know why she’d come.

The silence stretched longer than she intended it to, and then Hook- _Killian_ was speaking again. “Your parents are right, you know.” 

“What?”

He flashed her a crooked smile that made her heart flutter. She ignored it. “My brother and I _did_ come here on an enchanted ship, and we _did_ discover the king’s intent to poison his enemies with dreamshade.”

And what exactly did you say to that? Emma was still trying to wrap her head around this whole ‘magic’ thing, and adding legends to the mix only made it more complicated. Some part of her wished that everything was still normal, the way things had been before the curse broke, but then she’d have none of this.

No optimistic parents who supported her every decision or her strange alliance with Regina, and certainly not this. Not _whatever_ it was Emma had with her pirate.

“How much of it’s true?” She asked him, settling down beside him. “I don’t know how it is for your world, but where I’m from, the legends rarely match up with reality.”

Killian chuckled, letting his head fall back against the stump. “Our worlds are alike in that regard. You see, my brother Liam and I were in the navy together, and with our experiences, we climbed the ranks faster than most. But we were young and ambitious, and the king knew this. So he assigned the two of us to lead a journey to another land.”

“Neverland.” Emma breathed, because there was nothing else to say.

“Aye." He said simply, nodding. "We were sent to gather a plant, medicine that could heal any wound. However, when we arrived, a boy told us it was deadly poison. Liam laughed it off, always the stubborn bastard, but I was wary of it. But we had orders, so we found the plant, regardless of our personal thoughts. I was right to be worried, though. Turns out, the boy was right. If not for the cure he gave me, Liam would’ve been dead in minutes.”

It came together. “That’s how you know the cure to dreamshade. Because your younger brother tried to leave the island-”

Killian laughed, and Emma couldn’t deny that the harsh sound surprised her. She shot the pirate a glance, but he spoke without even looking. “I can promise you, _love,_ the younger Jones brother left Neverland. I should know. After all, I was with Liam when he died, and he never did stop calling me _little brother._ ”

And then she was yanking him closer and it was awkward and tense and weird as _hell_ but she wrapped her pirate in a tight embrace. He started to speak, cool metal brushing against her skin, but Emma cut him off before he could get a word in. “Look, I shouldn’t have asked, okay? So, shut up and let me have this.”

Killian relaxed after a few seconds, and warmth settled inside her chest, a contrast to the cool breeze around them. There was something strangely _intimate_ about this moment, about embracing him like this under Neverland’s unfamiliar skies. Maybe it was the trust, because Emma knew that neither of them let people in easily.

She felt her walls crumbling further with each breath she took. _Try something new._ The words seemed like they were from years ago, still, maybe they were right.

This sure as hell wasn’t the type of thing that happened in fairytales, the princess hiding feelings for a pirate, but Emma couldn’t care less. Because this was Neverland _,_ and she was here to rescue her son from Peter Pan of all people, and really, it wasn’t the weirdest thing that had happened.

Minutes passed, and Killian broke the silence with soft words. He shifted, moving so they were closer to their original position, but there was something infinitely more comfortable about it. “I’d hate to break the moment, but what is this to be?”

Feigning thoughtfulness, Emma let herself settle closer than she ever thought she'd be comfortable with, her fingers running across the curve of his hook, as though she didn’t already know exactly what to say. “Someone once told me to try something new.” He raised his brow, and she smirked. “So, this is trying something new.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick thing. This was inspired by The Lost Crew, which was written by ReaperWriter. I know there's a way to link it, but I can't seem to get it to work, so I'm putting it here! Anyways, ya'll should go check it out!


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